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| Sydney, Australia |  Review on May 6, 2007: |
jezz85
Rating:  | Review Topic: K1 Visa
This is the story of my K-1 visa interview.
I woke up early to head out at around 6:00 AM to make my way to the consulate. My appointment was for 8:00 AM on Friday. I drove to the train station and then took the train the rest of the way in, arriving at Wynyard station at around 7:30 AM. I walked down to Martin Place and headed into the MLC building. I went up to level 10 and to my dismay there was already around 20 people lined up at 7:45. There were a couple of families with kids and babies, a few couples and several people alone, myself included.
Security had started checking people not long before I arrived. I took out my interview letter and passport and waited my turn. I had to take my shoes off to go through the metal detector as they x-rayed my shoes and my bag. They kept my phone and my bag at security and I ended up carrying the vast majority of its contents since I only brought what I needed.
The security guys were all very nice and patient with everyone, they asked me to sit down in the first row and wait to go up to level 59. A couple of minutes later security ushered my row into the elevator and on 59 we found ourselves at a second security desk. Second metal detector, second shoe removal.
Then, push the heavy door and head inside…
Ticket number 04! I went and sat down on the left hand side on one side I had a couple that came together for a K-1 interview. They were 01. On the other side was number 02, she came alone like me and we chatted whilst we were waiting and we were both on K-1 visa. 03 was on her far side, she was friendly also and we all sat there waiting for them to start calling our numbers.
01 took a while for the consular officer to process. Sadly they were missing something from their paperwork and I believe they will have to come back at a later date. When I heard that a small voice started to worry that I would be missing something vital also. Fortunately a louder voice in my inner monologue assured me that all of my documents were present and correct (and meticulously organised). I could be sure because I suspect I went through them about 15 times to double check in recent days.
02 and 03 had their paperwork processed without incident and then it was my turn. I headed up to the window and was instantly put at ease by the friendly woman behind the counter. She smiled and asked for my interview letter and then the rest of my documents. She thumbed through them quickly with me standing there to make sure they were all there with their appropriate photocopies. She handed back some of my photocopies at this point that I guess she didn’t need. She didn’t seem phased at all by the fact that I had photocopies of absolutely everything and clearly too many photocopies. Still, I was glad I had photocopies of everything because she ended up keeping a few photocopies that I thought she might not have needed. Like the photocopies I did of my passport for example.
She asked me to sit down and I watched her go through my documents one by one, putting the originals of birth certificate and police report into the gap under the window. After a while she called me back up to collect my originals and give me my "Welcome to the United States" leaflet and information sheet. 02 came back over with a big grin on her face to tell me that she’d gotten approved and that the interview was just fine and to say goodbye and good luck with everything.
Meanwhile, the consulate officer worked on my paperwork some more until she called me up again. She smiled and said that all my documents looked “very good” and that there was no reason why I wouldn’t be issued with my visa if the interview was fine. She said “I’ll get you to sit down one more time to wait to be called to window 7”.
I didn’t have long to wait and I was called up to window 7 where Vice Consul took my index fingerprints and asked me questions about Tony and our relationship. The questions (to the best of my memory) were as follows
- Where did you meet?
- Where in Sydney? (I kind of laughed at this question because the answer is..) “Actually, we met on a train.” *she smiled at this answer*
-Where was the train coming from and going to?
-Why was he in Australia?
-Where in the US does your fiancé live?
-What is your fiancés job?
-Where does he work?
-Have you ever been to the US?
-Where did you go in the US and for how long?
I was a little nervous and babbled a bit, but she was very understanding. And didn’t laugh at me when I answered the question “Where does he work” with “He works in Maryland… which is where he lives… in Maryland… uh, obviously.”
In no time at all, the interview, which had ended up being short and painless was over. Sadly, my blue folder of various evidence of relationship materials went unopened the entire time. The carefully prepared letters, cards, itineraries, plane tickets and of course photos were never viewed! At the end I did say “That’s it?” I wanted to say “But can’t I show you just a couple of photos?!” I wanted a picture of my awesome fiancé and all my time and effort to get a little appreciation. Hahahaha.
I elected to give them a 3kg express post satchel as requested so they can post me my visa and MBE (Mysterious Brown Envelope  ) so as quick as that I thanked the woman and went back down to security. I picked up my bag and was out of there by around 9:30 AM. My darling fiancé, who I think can read my mind called me on my mobile within 10 minutes of turning my phone back on. Which was surprising because I warned him that I didn’t know how long I’d be in the consulate and that it might take all day if things get busy. We both jumped up and down excitedly, him at home and me standing in the middle of the train station… Now that my visa has been approved its no more amber traffic light, now its GREEN all the way to the USA!
Thanks for sticking with my overly verbose consulate review. I hope it helps you in some small way to prepare yourself for your own interview. As long as your relationship is true (which I’m sure it is), and as long as all your paper work is present, photocopied and in the right order (maybe you should go check it a 13th time? Just in case it got rearranged all by itself since last time you checked it? ) your consulate experience should be a friendly, easy and stress free one.
Good Luck!
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Consulate / USCIS Member Review #1567